Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

Amidst the spectacle of final exams at Beijing University, the newly bald Jiang Xia emerged from the crowd and became a topic of conversation.

Having shaved his head completely, Jiang Xia’s good looks weren’t diminished in the slightest. Instead, the bad-boy vibe he exuded was amplified to no end.

He gave off the impression that as long as he kept his mouth shut, from a distance, he didn’t look like a good person.

And as for when he did speak... well, that just confirmed the suspicion that he wasn’t a good person.

After hearing the news, An Guoping and Yang Jianguo mischievously made a special trip just to see him. An Guoping, holding a camera he’d borrowed from who-knows-where, started snapping a flurry of pictures of Jiang Xia’s bald head.

Yang Jianguo, who didn’t have a camera, stood to the side and kept nagging An Guoping, "Give me one of those photos. I’ll stick it on my door during the New Year. It’ll work better than a Door God."

"That idea of yours... is brilliant!"

The two were perfectly in sync, the very picture of friends who love to give each other a hard time.

If not for the constraints of time, the two of them really would have kept taking pictures until the end of the world.

Only after Jiang Xia threatened to snatch the camera did the two of them beat a hasty retreat to save their "Door God" photos.

Jiang Xia remained seated, staring blankly at An Guoping’s retreating back. ’A camera,’ he thought, ’how did I not think of that?’

He made a mental note. After his exam today, Jiang Xia planned to go get himself a camera.

At the thought of soon having photos of An Ning, Jiang Xia could hardly contain the flutter of excitement in his heart.

With a full day of exams, everyone finished at different times.

Jiang Xia, who finished early, gave Hua Cheng a call and asked him to come along to buy a camera. After all, the guy loved to tinker with that sort of stuff.

Meanwhile, An Ning, who had one more exam to take, didn’t rush off after she was done. She was going to hold a special tutoring session for her classmates.

She had arranged with her classmates to use one of the university’s classrooms to help answer any questions they had.

By the time the Q&A session was over, it was nearly seven in the evening, and no one had eaten yet.

The class president suggested they all go eat shaomai at a place near the campus entrance.

An Ning had no objections, of course, but she wondered why they had to go there to eat. ’Wouldn’t it be more convenient on the Beijing University campus?’

She didn’t ask, though. ’It must taste really good,’ she figured.

A huge group of guys trailed behind An Ning. If not for the few people leading the way, you would have thought she was a gang boss leading her enforcers out for a stroll.

Given the male-to-female ratio in An Ning’s class, she was definitely safe going out to eat.

The large group traipsed out of the campus and arrived at the shaomai place the class president had mentioned.

Calling it a "place" wasn’t quite right. It was actually just one person with a modified food cart, upon which were stacked towering bamboo steamers.

"Brother Shan, we’re here!"

"One steamer of shaomai for everyone."

The class president went to place the order, speaking very slowly. The vendor, Brother Shan, had one corner of his mouth turned up in a smile, while the other twitched unnaturally.

"O—kay. One... steamer... for everyone."

Brother Shan spoke with a stutter and avoided eye contact, but his hands never stopped working. He was slow, but he didn’t make a single mistake.

An Ning suddenly understood why everyone had come here to eat. ’They’re trying to support Brother Shan’s business,’ she realized.

’What a bunch of sweet kids.’

"An Ning, sit here."

One of the male students handed An Ning one of the few small folding stools available. An Ning accepted it and sat down, watching the group of big guys stand around her.

Just then, one of the guys handed his things to another, rolled up his sleeves, put on a pair of gloves, and went to help Brother Shan.

"Brother, let me help."

’Brother?’

He hadn’t called him Brother Shan.

An Ning glanced to her side, where a member of the class committee subconsciously scratched his head and explained to her, "Brother Shan is Lao San’s—that’s Luo Shitou’s—older brother. They’re the only two left in their family, so they depend on each other. As you can see, Brother Shan... he’s a little intellectually disabled, but he’s a super nice guy."

"You don’t know this, but the first time we met Brother Shan, he was holding a clean white handkerchief full of small change that he’d brought for Luo Shitou."

"That was also when Luo Shitou found out that his older brother had arranged for someone to bring him to Beijing, and that his brother had been working odd jobs in the area all along just to give him living expenses and to let Luo Shitou know he had a big brother who loved him."

"Luo Shitou cried like a total idiot back then. Before Brother Shan showed up, Luo Shitou had really low self-esteem. He never talked, probably afraid we’d make fun of him for being an orphan. We all used to joke that he was like his name, a stone."

"But after Brother Shan came, Luo Shitou completely changed."

As the committee member told the story, An Ning looked over at the two brothers.

Even though Brother Shan was intellectually challenged, it was clear that he genuinely doted on his younger brother. He might not be able to do much, but he did the absolute most he could within his abilities.

At that moment, Brother Shan was holding a handkerchief and wiping the sweat from Luo Shitou’s brow.

Luo Shitou grinned at Brother Shan, who patted his own chest in satisfaction and said, "Brother."

’He’s his brother.’

A comfortable warmth spread through An Ning’s heart. She let out a long breath and, pointing to the shaomai cart, asked how it all came about.

It turned out that after the guys in the class learned about the brothers’ situation, they had spontaneously collected donations. Those who had more to give, gave more; those who had less, gave less. Some offered physical help instead. Everyone contributed what they could.

Brother Shan might not be the sharpest, but he was very clean and knew how to make shaomai.

Luo Shitou had said that his brother knew how to make shaomai. He’d never actually eaten it himself—after all, it wasn’t like they always had flour at home—but his brother always insisted he knew how.

Later, when everyone tried them, Brother Shan’s shaomai turned out to be delicious. They might not have been top-tier gourmet cuisine, but they were more than good enough for a small food stall.

"Next time something like this comes up, count me in."

An Ning didn’t offer to change anything. It wouldn’t be right for her to suddenly throw money at the situation. ’It’s better to take things one step at a time,’ she thought.

Still, she was deeply moved by the brotherly love between Brother Shan and Luo Shitou.

After they finished their shaomai, everyone paid their bill as usual. Brother Shan was slow, but he thanked each person earnestly.

As the group started walking back, An Ning saw Brother Shan carefully flattening each bill and wiping it clean before handing the money to Luo Shitou.

Luo Shitou took some of it and placed the rest back in Brother Shan’s cash box.

Brother Shan patted Luo Shitou’s head with one hand, a clear sign of his praise.

Luo Shitou helped his brother pack up the cart, saw him back to his rented room, and then got to work preparing the ingredients for the next day.

An Ning took all of this in. ’So this is how everyone strives to make a living.’

Pulling her gaze away, An Ning said goodbye to the others and started walking home alone.

As she was walking, a figure caught up to her from behind.

An Ning, still walking ahead, said with a smile, "I’ve discovered there are quite a few benefits to you shaving your head. Look, doesn’t it feel a little brighter around here?"

A speechless Jiang Xia emerged from behind her and came to a stop at her side, leaning his head toward her.

"Here you go. Your own personal flashlight."

"Get outta here!"

An Ning pushed away Jiang Xia’s shiny dome and shared the story of the shaomai brothers from earlier that evening.

After listening, Jiang Xia said, "You could tell this Luo Shitou that if he’s interested, he could write down his and Brother Shan’s story. My newspaper is looking for content like that."

"It’s better to teach someone to fish than to give them a fish."

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